FORMER FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS’ PROBATION FOR PROVIDING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

NEWARK, N.J. – A former special agent of the FBI was sentenced today to four years of probation for his role in acquiring confidential information relating to an undercover law enforcement operation and giving it to another individual, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Ivan Stantchev, 43, of Alexandria, Va., previously pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer to an Information charging him with causing another to exceed authorized access to an FBI computer, thereby obtaining confidential, non-public information from an FBI computer, which he provided to another individual. U.S. District Judge Faith S. Hochberg imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In June 2011, Stantchev, then a special agent with the FBI, was asked by the other individual to obtain confidential, non-public information in connection with four telephone numbers and any individuals associated with those numbers. Stantchev asked an FBI colleague (Individual 1) located in the New York Metro area to obtain this information from confidential FBI computers.

On June 30, 2011, Individual 1 sent Stantchev an electronic document through the FBI’s email system detailing confidential, non-public information from certain FBI databases, including the existence of an ongoing FBI investigation in Newark, N.J.; the federal offenses being investigated; the related FBI case number; the name of the FBI’s operation; and notations confirming the existence of an undercover law enforcement operation in Newark. Stantchev provided this confidential, non-public information to the other individual.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General New York Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Tomlinson, for the investigation leading to today’s sentence. He also thanked the FBI for its assistance and cooperation in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra Moser and Jacques S. Pierre of the Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.

12-430